1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an article take-out apparatus which recognizes the positions of articles stored in bulk in a container and takes out the recognized articles by using a robot.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, an apparatus taking an image of articles stored in bulk inside a container by a camera and carrying out image processing of the camera image to recognize the positions of the articles is known. For example, the apparatus which is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-313624A (JP2007-313624A) arranges a camera right above a container so that the container as a whole is included in the field, uses the image from this camera to detect articles, and selects an article to be taken out by a manipulator of the robot. The selected article is taken out using a 3D visual sensor which is provided at the hand part of the manipulator.
However, the camera image includes the open end face and inside walls of the container. Therefore, with recognizing articles from the camera image like in the apparatus which is described in JP2007-313624A, differentiation of the open end face or inside walls from the articles is sometimes difficult.